Honor

To honor someone is to give them the respect that is due to them because of who they are or because of their position. In fact, in the martial arts, the concepts of honor and respect are closely tied together. Giving honor and respect to those who are worthy of it is part of the discipline of the martial arts.

This honor can be shown in a variety of ways. The most well known in the martial arts is the bow. We bow to our instructors who have gone ahead of us. The guide us on the pathway of self discovery and discipline in the martial arts. The black belts who have endured and reached that expert level. The higher ranking students in the class because they are further on the pathway than we are. These are all worthy of respect.

The use of proper titles. Grandmaster (7th dan and above) or Master (4th dan and above) are two such. Mister when the one we are honoring is a man and Mrs. or Ms. when it is a woman. Sir or Ma'am are never out of place in the dojang.

But there are other ways too. Being on time for class, properly dressed out with the necessary equipment are other ways. Keeping ourselves clean and our fingernails and toenails trimmed so as to minimize injuries. Muting our pagers and cell phones to we don't interrupt class. Asking permission before leaving the training floor are other things we can do show respect to our instructors and our school. Bowing on and off the training floor. All these are things we can do to show honor to those who train us and see us grow in the art we love.

Neglecting these things is the pathway to disrespect, laziness, and indifference. It is a great sin to insult your instructor or Grandmaster. It is also disrespectful to ignore his commands and lessons and to train in a lazy manner or worse, to not care at all. The way you train is the way you fight and if you are slothful and lazy in training and reject the discipline of the art, then there is little hope you will be victorious over an opponent. If you train like you don't care then you will fight like you don't care.

Honor and respect are not just words we memorize in the student handbook, they are philosophies for living. They teach us better ways of interacting with the people around us. They are an integral part of who we are as martial artists. It starts in the dojang but carries over into all of life.

Being honored begins with giving honor. Are you growing into a honorable person? May it be so of all of us.